Routing protocols allow for the communication between various computer networks. Currently when multiple PNPVC/IPVC are set between two autonomous systems (“AS”), the traffic load is balanced between them. For example, delay variations exists with inter-regional links and intra-regional links between Asia-to-Europe, Middle East, Africa (“EMEA”) via the U.S. and Asia-to-EMEA via Middle East or South Africa. In addition, the cost of bandwidth via the U.S. is much lower than the other links while the delay is much higher. Therefore, only selected traffic would take the more direct link. There is no criteria or method of forcing the use of one path over the use of another path. Link utilization is not optimized on the basis of the type of path or the source/destination within an Internet Protocol (“IP”) network.
A Border Gateway Protocol (“BGP”) system may be used to provide inter-domain routing between autonomous systems (“ASs”). BGP systems exchange network reachability information with other BGP systems. This information is used to construct a graph of AS connectivity from which routing loops are pruned and with which AS-level policy decisions are enforced. A BGP system provides a number of techniques for controlling the flow of BGP updates, such as route, path, and community filtering. It further provides techniques for consolidating routing information, such as classless inter-domain routing (“CIDR”) aggregation, confederations, and route reflectors. BGP is a scalable and powerful tool for providing loop-free inter-domain routing within and between multiple ASs.